The Cape Town Convention Academic Project ("the Convention") is a joint undertaking between the University of Washington School of Law and the University of Oxford Faculty of Law. Its purpose is to facilitate the academic study and assessment of the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment together with its protocols, for the benefit of scholars, practicing lawyers, courts, governments and industry. The Cape Town Convention is one of the most important and innovative international conventions in the field of transactional commercial law. The project seeks to enhance the understanding and effective implementation of the treaty and advance its aims.

The project’s main activities include the creation of a comprehensive database of materials on the Convention, including its legislative history, a journal, conferences, instructional and other materials to enhance the understanding and teaching of the Convention and law and economics assessment. The database and journal are under the joint auspices of the project and UNIDROIT. The International Civil Aviation Organization and the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail are also cooperating with the project, and the Aviation Working Group is the founding sponsor of the project.

The project also addresses general principles and themes seen in the broader context of transnational commercial law, such as the relationship between commercial law reform and economic benefit, the relationship between international and national law, the interplay between private law and public law, the use of a system of opt-in and opt-out declarations to provide flexibility in the application of provisions so as to respect national sensitivities and the role of electronic commerce, including the use of electronic registries.